...Bitcoin is just too different from what the vast majority of people are use to and they don't like the idea of such a big change. Older people also have this kind of "fear" about computer stuff....

...Converting euros to bitcoins sounds like a nice idea and I'm in favor. Especially for Greek people if we are to go back to a domestic currency. ...

But I believe Greece's major problem is not the economy! It's the corrupt politicians who could not care less about their country. All they care about is their personal power and profit....

Thanks for the update! That's perplexing to me and the people with whom i discuss this.

People don't like such a big change everywhere, and old people fear computer stuff everywhere.Politicians are corrupt and self-serving everywhere i've been, with the only difference being how much the local political climate and system allows them to pocket...

PLUS, Greeks seem to have the most to gain from converting to B, if they exit euro zone. Yet, Greece has yet to appear on Google Trends for Bitcoin, where smaller, less troubled countries, such as Finland, constantly appear.

Just in case Greece opts out of the euro and decides to go with bitcoin, Paytunia is now translated in greek for android mobile phones I do not live in Greece but one of my cousins does..However if you find any inaccuracies, please let me know.

No government will ever switch to bitcoin as they want to be able to "print" and otherwise manipulate currency as much as they wish (although formally central banks are usually "independent" from them). They obviously can't do this with bitcoin.So it is up to vendors, entrepreneurs etc. to make bitcoin widely used.

I wonder whether it would be possible or useful for the TEM people to back it with Bitcoin...

Who is going to pay for every new person that goes into the TEM system? Every newcomer gets a fixed number of TEMs for free. If they are backed by bitcoins somebody should buy those bitcoins in the first place.

I wonder whether it would be possible or useful for the TEM people to back it with Bitcoin...

Who is going to pay for every new person that goes into the TEM system? Every newcomer gets a fixed number of TEMs for free. If they are backed by bitcoins somebody should buy those bitcoins in the first place.

Yes, i guess, the organizer of TEM and those guys he has behind the computers would have to buy the backing, which doesn't seem likely, or may even be pointless...

I don't exactly understand how the valuation works in TEM - how they determine how many TEM anything is.

Perhaps, TEM is not really currency, but just another barter ledger system that is presented as a local currency in this video.

Maybe the reason the average Greeks are not interested in Bitcoin is simply because they are so tired of all the currency-related shenanigans that they would rather just go to the modern versions of prehistoric barter than some nebulous, uncertain geek experiment of Bitcoin...

Would one of our Greek members be willing to contact the TEM organizer, and inquire why he would not want to use Bitcoin instead of TEM?

I read about how TEM works and I'll try to explain it here for the ones interested.

There is no supply/production of TEM units. The total number of TEM units is always zero.

If Alice wants to buy something from Bob and they agree on 10TEM units, Alice's account goes to -10TEM and Bob's account goes to 10TEM. A healthy account should fluctuate from negative to positive and vice versa. You can not go too far into negative, there is a limit.

To sign up, you need to provide ID and signature.

When you sign up you can see all ads about goods and services and you can place your own ad.

You can comment on your transactions and you can see other people's accounts and comments

It's not mentioned though, how goods and services are valued and how local trades are being made.

I read about how TEM works and I'll try to explain it here for the ones interested.---Their web site is at: http://www.tem-magnisia.gr/

Backing TEM with Bitcoin might prove to be too difficult, because Bitcoin has features like coins supply, interest rates etc and TEM does not. Fundamental design differences.

Thank you for clarifying that!

So, it's not really a currency as the video presented, but a local barter network. It sounds like offline Ripple Pay on paper, with an offline database.

Seems well-suited for the average merchant/consumer, because they are used to paper, there is nothing to steal or hack, and the chief of it all can be found locally. Bitcoin is difficult to comprehend and trust in comparison, if one is not swift with computers...

As long as they don't wish to trade outside their local economy, TEM seems great fit for them.

When they wish to trade outside, they could start using Ripple, and have the same TEM-type system online...

Would be interesting to hear from the TEM boss regarding Ripple, and his future plans for TEM in general. I will try to contact him when i get a round tuit...

It's a quite good presentation of Bitcoin for the layman. It has some mistakes and misses a few aspects (it would be way more interesting if it presented Bitcoin along with some libertarian principles instead of just mentioning how today's governments are corrupt) but overall it's nice.

Quote

I see a few more in the *.gr realm lately, but still doesn't even show up in Google Trends data for Greece. Perhaps, Greeks mostly use some other search engine?

Nope. We use almost exclusively Google like the rest of the world but there are fewer than 5mil internet users from Greece AFAIK so Google trends usually ain't that clear for us.